THE latest addition to RNLI lifeboatman crew has gone missing just days after arriving on duty - thankfully, he was just a knitted volunteer.

Two teams of Yarnbombers, the Redcar Yarn Ninjas and the Redcar Yarn Fairies, added a splash of colour to the town's seafront last week.

Among them was a lifeboatman, dressed in yellow waterproofs, a jaunty cap and a red RNLI life vest, who was left on railings opposite the lifeboat station last Wednesday.

But now he has gone missing.

Dave Cocks, of Redcar RNLI, said: “He appeared on Wednesday and we’d already grown very fond of him.

“Someone has obviously thought about where they were putting him and it was nice for us to see.

“He was there on Sunday morning because the lads saw him during training, but when we’ve come in today, he’s gone.

“It’s a great shame that someone has spoilt it for everyone else. We didn’t even get round to choosing a name for him.”

Most of the other knitting remains in place after last week’s blitz by the bombers transformed hundreds of yards of the seafront.

The Yarn Ninjas were first to strike, leaving all sorts of nautical-themed items. Then the Yarn Fairies sprang into action, sewing more than 300 items crafted from yarn, fabric and felt over six months onto the railings.